Well, it appears that the state House of Representatives has adjourned its session “sine die,” and really before accomplishing anything. “Sine die” is a latin phrase which means “without a day,” so lawmakers quit work without setting a day to return.
Over in the Senate, meanwhile, lawmakers are struggling to come up with solutions for Medicaid expansion and to fill the $1 billion gap left in the governor’s budget if case the Low Income Pool is not renewed by the federal government. The two efforts seem to be miles apart.
That’s not how the House GOP leadership sees it, though. Speaker of the House Steve Crisafulli (R-Merritt Island), counts the time spent in session as meaningful, saying the House “passed legislation that covered every principle” in the 2015 work plan.
The AFP-FL is pleased with the House’s “progress” during this session.
“The House stood strong and negotiated in good faith,” said state director, Chris Hudson. “Meanwhile, the Senate continues to stall a tax cut package that would help Floridians. The Senate should follow the House’s leadership, pass the tax cut package, and go home!”
Governor Scott will have to call the lawmakers back to session if he wants to get a budget passed. And the state needs a budget, not just a tax cut package.
Leah Barber-Heinz, CEO of Florida CHAIN, said her group was was shocked by House leaders’ decision to quit before dealing with the medicare coverage gap.
“Lawmakers were elected to serve, not to walk away when things get hard,” Barber-Heinz said. “Like many, we were absolutely shocked and dismayed to learn of the House leaders’ callous decision to sine die early while failing to close the coverage gap. Florida is offered billions of dollars so that we can extend health care coverage to hardworking Floridians. Rather than accepting this funding to save lives and protect our hospitals, House leaders made the shameful decision to walk away. Unfortunately, the nearly 1 million Floridians stuck in the coverage gap cannot just walk away from being uninsured. They will continue to suffer without access to the coverage they deserve and will be left with few options other than turning to our emergency rooms for urgent care. This puts an enormous burden on our already struggling safety net hospitals and jeopardizes jobs at hospitals, which are a critical economic engine for many Florida counties.”
